The Friendschaft was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1819. The claimant, Moreira, had purchased a ship from France and sailed it to Baltimore where he sold it for profit. However, when he attempted to collect his profits from the sale of the vessel, they were seized by federal authorities due to an embargo imposed on French vessels at that time. Moreira argued that since his purchase predated the imposition of this embargo, he should be allowed to keep his profits as intended. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Moreira and held that any seizure or forfeiture must have occurred prior to any contract being made between parties involved in order for such action taken against them would be valid under law. This decision established important precedent regarding contracts and their enforcement within US courts going forward into modern times.

In The Friendschaft, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a vessel that had been captured by an enemy during wartime could be considered abandoned and therefore subject to salvage. The majority opinion held that since the vessel had not been officially declared abandoned by its owners, it should remain their property even if they were unable to reclaim it due to war-related circumstances. However, Justice Story dissented from this decision on the grounds that under maritime law, vessels are generally deemed abandoned when they have been seized or taken possession of by an enemy for more than one year without any attempt at recovery being made. He argued that in such cases ownership is transferred from the original owner and can be claimed as salvage by anyone who recovers it before its rightful owner does so. Therefore he concluded that in this case too, since no effort had been made at recovering the vessel within a reasonable amount of time after capture, it should have rightfully become subject to salvage rights instead of remaining with its original owners despite their inability to recover it themselves due to war-related circumstances.